Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The perpetual continuing resolution has had a huge impact on the government contracting community. Operating under a continuing resolution not only handcuffs federal buyers from starting new projects, it also makes them work and think much harder about deciding where to most effectively spend the funds they have.

How are you going to make certain your pipeline gets some of those remaing FY 2011 funds? How are you going to influence those controlling those funds?

Will you focus on making certain you maximize the value of current accounts? Or will you be targeting accounts you have been working, but have yet to penetrate? Do you have sufficient contacts at each account to make certain you reach all the decison-makers?

Are you targeting the SmartPay micro-purchase buyers? And if so, how are you differentiating your offer?

If you need a few ideas on what can work for your organization, post a comment here or drop me a line at markamtower gmail dot com.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

The news of Deltek purchasing Washington Management Group and Federal Sources created quite a stir in the contracting community. Here are my thoughts on my previous post, which was only posting the Deltek press release.

Deltek, under Kevin Parker (who joined Deltek in 2005) there have been several acquisitions, including Input and GovWin (formerly MySBX). Mr Parker discussed these and other issues on my radio show last October - http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?sid=2075743&nid=58&_hw=Kevin+parker .
During that interview, Mr Parker stated that Deltek's push into offering more services to the contractor community was far from over.

I still don't think Deltek is done, but I would be hard pressed to figure out what would be next. No insider info here.

What this means to the contracting community is that Deltek/Input/FedSources offer a comprehensive suite of paid information and consulting services. Add in GovWin for the small contractors and you has an impressive array free and paid services.

For those companies that used to use both services, you will pay less. For the companies that used to try to negotiate a better price by playing Fed Sources off Input, well, that is probably over.

Are there other sources available for the contracting community? Yes, but they are mostly smaller providers, with the exception of Bloomberg Government, BGov.

I am still not certain BGov is a direct competitor to Deltek. If they are, with the acquisition of Federal Sources by Deltek, BGov will find it more difficult to compete directly with Deltek.

This is a relationship driven market and between Deltek, Input, WMG and Fed Sources, most of the major contracting community is well covered. Factor in the Colaition for government Procurement and you have the GSA Schedules covered too.

Friday, April 1, 2011

This is very sigificant news for the contracting community. My analysis will follow this weekend- but in the meantime- here is the press release from Deltek:

Deltek Acquires FedSources and The Washington Management Group

The addition of Washington Management Group, FedSources, and FedSources Consulting to Deltek’s INPUT and GovWin information solutions delivers unmatched capabilities for finding, winning, and managing government business

HERNDON, VA – April 1, 2011 – Deltek, Inc. (Nasdaq: PROJ), the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for professional services firms, government contractors, and government agencies, today announced that it has acquired Washington Management Group (WMG), and its FedSources (FSI) and FedSources Consulting (FSI Consulting) businesses for $26 million in an all cash transaction.

With estimated revenue of $15 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011, WMG, FSI, and FSI Consulting provide the market intelligence and consulting experience necessary to identify, qualify, and win government business. For over 25 years, the company has been an industry leader in providing consulting services and market intelligence to government contractors. With more than 900 clients and 20,000 users, the company helps identify and validate more than 3,500 opportunities worth hundreds of billions of dollars in annual market value.

This acquisition extends and accelerates Deltek’s unique portfolio of solutions that power the complete business lifecycle for government contractors. Our solutions span government opportunity information and intelligence, customer relationship management (CRM), business development and capture management, financial management, human capital management and project management. The addition of WMG and FSI bolsters Deltek’s portfolio of solutions by:

· Creating the industry’s broadest and deepest repository of government opportunity intelligence information. For over 25 years, FedSources has delivered government contract research, agency spending analysis, and targeted opportunity information in key areas such as national security, information technology, and architecture and engineering to clients interested in winning Federal business. By combining the rich opportunity intelligence from FedSources with the unique content, community and opportunity database from INPUT and GovWin, Deltek now delivers an unrivaled repository of government opportunities that represents over $500 billion in annual market value.

· Offering comprehensive government schedule consulting to help companies find and keep profitable government contracts through The Washington Management Group. Deltek drives growth for companies interested in capturing Federal business by developing strategies that will enable them to profitably enter the government market. As part of these engagements, we work closely with companies to obtain and maintain both GSA and VA Schedule contracts. Our engagements maximize revenue opportunities and minimize risk by ensuring compliance policies and programs are in place to enhance contract conformance. In this way, we make it easier for companies to do business with the government and easier for the government to do business with key contractors.

“Acquiring WMG and FedSources significantly expands our solutions portfolio and drives new growth opportunities with new customers and within our existing base of over 4,000 government contractors,” said Kevin Parker, President and CEO of Deltek. “This acquisition extends our capabilities as the premier end-to-end government contracting solutions partner – providing an unmatched suite of solutions from business development and capture management to comprehensive financial and project management. In addition, it expands our strong recurring revenue stream. Our integration process is underway, and we expect to benefit from many future synergies as we leverage this acquisition to be a growth catalyst for Deltek.”

“Combining the Washington Management Group and FedSources with Deltek and its INPUT and GovWin solutions provides our organization with a unique opportunity to deliver game-changing value to our customers,” said Bill Gormley, President and CEO of Washington Management Group and FedSources. “The government domain expertise of WMG and FSI together with the global reach and industry-standard software solutions from Deltek provides contractors with one strategic partner that delivers a full lifecycle of success to companies that want to enter and win in the government marketplace.”

About Deltek

Deltek (Nasdaq: PROJ) is the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for professional services firms, government contractors, and government agencies. For decades, we have delivered actionable insight that empowers our customers to unlock their business potential. Over 14,000 organizations and 1.8 million users in approximately 80 countries around the world rely on Deltek to research and identify opportunities, win new business, optimize resources, streamline operations, and deliver more profitable projects. Deltek – Know more. Do more.™ deltek.com.

Follow Deltek at Twitter.com/Deltek and participate in the conversation #DeltekFedSources

Forward-Looking Statements

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